The mortality rates of Swine Flu or H1N1 infection in India has risen alarmingly to one-fourth of all infections this year, according to government data.

The rate of death climbed to 24.5% of all patients in the first eleven months of this year, compared to 13.3% in the previous year and 8.0% in 2012.

It is not clear why the proportion of deaths has risen to almost a quarter of all reported cases, or why the proportion keeps increasing.

In comparison, Ebola virus, which has got much more media coverage this year, kills about 50% of those who get the infection.

Both H1N1 and Ebola viruses have the ability to mutate fast, and become deadlier with time.

The highest number of deaths has been reported from Gujarat, where 55 of the 155 reported cases, or 35.5%, ended in the death of the patient.

The number of H1N1 infections, however, has gone down substantially in 2014 to 831 in eleven months, or 907 infections on an annualized basis, from 5,253 cases in 2013. There were Swine Flu 5,044 cases in 2012.

However, what is worrying is continuing number of deaths.

A total of 204 deaths have been reported in the first eleven months of the year. Despite having 6.5 times as many cases of infection in 2013, the total number of H1N1 deaths was only 699 last year.

Similarly, the total number of deaths in 2012 was 405 out of a total of 5044 cases.

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